Trust Winslow to get to the bottom of it and give us the correct information. Way to go!
....and speaking of Charlie McCoy....he headlined at the Kansas City, SPAH...and as far as I know (will stand corrected if anyone who was there can give better information), had his own back-up musicians onstage with him. He gave a wonderful performance that night...playing Shenandoah (among many other great songs) for a recently deceased friend of his...leaving not a dry eye in the house... given that we'd all just found out about and Pat Missin had just played a moving tribute to his friend, SPAH President Douglas Tate. What a SPAH! I had a front-row seat to Charlie McCoy playing Orange Blossom Special. Sat about 6 feet away so got to see everything he did in close up. Doesn't get much better than that for a new fan...and he hung out beforehand and afterwards taking photos with and signing CD's and autographs for his many fans and friends in our harmonica world.
Rumors and innuendoes abound online. Even here. The truth is the only way to silence falsehoods, so I especially appreciate Winslow's way of always seeking to verify the real facts. To that end as well I want to highly recommend his book: 'Harmonica for Dummies', which I'm about a quarter of the way through, as of today. It was one of my Christmas presents and, due to other issues I hadn't yet found the time to simply sit down and read it. Now I'm working my way through it...although I haven't yet played the audio. That's next on my list. He explains everything so well the book works for Newbie harmonica players as well as those who already see themselves as accomplished players (from the many other comments I've read). Kudos, Winslow.
Elizabeth
Message: 10
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2009 14:05:09 -0800 (PST)
From: Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Charlie McCoy and the Nashville Number System
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
According to Chas Williams, author of the book "The Nashville Number System,"
http://nashvillenumbersystem.com/
Neil Matthews, developed the Nashville Number System for the Jordanaires to use in the studio, and Charlie was an early adopter who came up with some extensions. This overlaps with PT Gazell's statement.
The oral accounts from Charlie's band members that you cite are statements of belief by informants who may or may not have accurate knowledge, even if they are Nashville session guys. They may have come on the scene after the fact and formed an impression that, while sincere, may or may not be accurate. Given Charlie's significant involvement in its development, they may easily have formed the impression that he invented the system. Calling them the horse's mouth is an overstatement. The real horse's mouth, at least as regards Charlie's individual involvement, is Charlie himself.
Other websites refer to the "evolution" of the system, indicating that several individuals may have been involved in the development of the system as it is now known. Charlie may well be among this group.
Third-party attestations, especially when they seem attractive (for instance, when they affirm an cherished belief or lend glory to a valued individual), must be treated skeptically and evaluated with care.
Winslow
Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5 **********************************
Charlie was very happy when I told him I'd
bring in his hand selected Nashville musicians for this particular gig, as they
haven't played together in years. So, my verification is from horses' mouths and was good enough for me to
repeat here. Winslow, on the other hand, may like more official documentation -
perhaps something in writing....?
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